The document discusses key conventions of film posters, including: - An eye-catching central image related to characters or setting. - The title of the film carefully constructed in font, color, size and placement to be memorable and suggest genre. - A tagline offering clues to genre and themes. - Names of well-known actors, director or producer. - Endorsements or awards. - Production credits in small print. Posters use images and text, like the title, stars' names and director, to encourage viewers to see the film. Analyzing posters involves considering these elements and what they suggest about the film's story, genre and tone.

1. FILM POSTERS
Posters and trailers have been used to promote films for many years, but the nature of
film marketing and promotion has changed a great deal since the 1990s. However,
posters are still a vital part of the marketing process, so it is always worthwhile studying
their key conventions.
Poster conventions
an eye-catching image or
images — often related to
characters (and the stars in
the film) or the setting of the
film
the title of the film, carefully
constructed in terms of font
style, colour, size and
placement: a lot of thought
goes into the title - it is
meant to be memorable,
and also to suggest the
genre of the film
a tagline for the film - which is
like the catchy slogans of
advertisements - offering
another clue to the genre and
main themes or content of the
film
the names of well-known or
key people connected to
the film. These are usually
the lead actors but may
also be the director or
producer.
endorsements from other
media productions (for
example, Empire magazine)
giving their comments such as
'an unmissable film'
details of any award nominations or awards that the film has already won.
These will be placed clearly on the poster.
The production 'blurb' (credit block) — information, in tiny print, that lists the
production and distribution companies as well as other information.
For your Controlled Assessment you must be able to show that you not only know the
convention of a film poster but that you can also analyse a film poster using denotation
and connotation.

2. The poster uses both images and text to give us this information. The most
important image is called the key image, because it is the key to what the
film is about, but there could be background images too. The most
important text is the title graphics and the names of the stars and the
director. The tag line helps us to remember the film and the credit block tells
us who produced and distributed the film. Every part of the poster is
carefully put together to encourage us to want to see the film.
POSTERS – GENERAL QUESTIONS
• What is the title of the film? What can you say about the way in which
the title graphics have been written?
• What does the title of the film suggest about the film?
• Does the title link in any way with the images?
• What is the tag line? What does it suggest about the film?
• Describe the key images on your poster. Why have they been chosen?
What other pictures can you see?
• What do you think the film will be about? What genres of film will it be?
What makes you say this?
• What does the layout of the poster say about the film?
• What does the use of colour suggest about the film or the characters?
• Who is starring in the film? Where are the stars’ names placed on the
poster? Why?
• What questions does the poster raise in your mind?
• What do you think are the most important elements on the poster?
Complete the task on the board, then using the example opposite and the
questions above analyse the Transformers film poster.